HONDO, Texas – The bar was set high last season when the Hondo High School football program came out of the regular season with a near-perfect 9-1 record — with the Owls’ one loss coming to the eventual District 14-3A-DI champions: Jourdanton.
Hondo later defeated their new district opponent, Cole, in the opening round of the postseason before falling to Goliad in the second round.
“I’m really excited,” said Hondo football head coach Dustin Templin. “I think we have every chance to be better than we were last year, we just have to go out and execute.”
The Owls are projected to replicate last year’s second-place district finish, per Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine.
However, for the program to match that level of success — they’ll need to make up for the loss of last year’s sizable senior class and prepare for increased difficulty in Hondo’s non-district schedule.
“We really need to step up,” said Hondo senior quarterback DJ Richter. “There’s a bunch of people that need to step up. We have a lot of young talent that — if we get those talents up — we can be really good this year.”
Hondo understands the challenge at hand and the new class of seniors are highly motivated to continue the program’s winning ways.
“Great things,” said Hondo senior running back Jerry Guevara on expectations. “We’re coming off a 10-2 season, we’re really pumped up, we’re looking to push forward for a district championship and on after that.”
The Owls will bring their winning mentality to their season opener at home against Blanco on August 30 at 7 p.m.
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